What? This 5.5" phone with 3GB RAM costs $90

posted by Chris P. / Nov 18, 2015, 2:52 AM

Much can be said about the history of Chinese smartphone makers — both big and small — and their attempts to commoditize the smartphone, but none speaks louder than UMi's new $89.99 ROME phone. And for that kind of cash, you're getting one incredibly decked out device.

While unconfirmed, the UMi ROME appears to have a metal frame encircling the 7.9mm chassis, and the resemblance at the back with the Xiaomi Note Pro/Samsung Galaxy Note 5 is "uncanny". In terms of hardware, UMi is offering a 5.5-inch, 720 x 1280 resolution AMOLED display, good for a pixel density of 267 ppi, which while not excellent, is nevertheless quite acceptable at that price point. The glass covering the panel is of the 2.5D curved type, which always adds some class to devices in our experience.

Underneath the screen, UMi has packed a 64-bit, octa-core MediaTek MT6753 processor with ARM Mali T-720 GPU, coupled with the extremely generous 3 gigs of RAM. Considering the 720p resolution, at least on paper the phone should perform quite well. There are also 16GB of built-in storage, though there's no word on whether the ROME will support expansion through a dedicated microSD card slot. On the imaging front, we're looking at a 13-megapixel Sony IMX164 sensor and a dual LED flash at the back, and a 2-megapixel selfie snapper up front. Finally, the device is powered by Android 5.1 Lollipop and a 2,500 mAh cell.

From what we're told by the press release that UMi sent us, the ROME is due for release "next month", which is a bit ambiguous, and so is the entire story around the phone for that matter. Quite frankly, UMi now has a track record of promising pretty amazing devices that are yet to be released to the public, so we'll be keeping an eye out for the ROME, but also the previously announced (but still unreleased) Zero 2. If we assume there's no monkey business going on here, however, we've got to say that this is likely to be a hit with consumers, who're increasingly craving high-end packages sold at near cost.

posted on Nov 18, 2015, 8:30 PM 0

Posts: 120; Member since: Mar 19, 2014

posted on Nov 18, 2015, 10:56 AM 0

Posts: 14967; Member since: Sep 25, 2013

I recall when the iPhoen 6 design was first leaked, all the fanbois were like; Apple would never release anything that ugly with those ugly antenna bands.
As soon as they come out, everyone ran out an bought 75M in one quarter. I guess being bigger was more important than how ugly it was.
Well built? Not when it bends in the pocket. Just saying!
They all are just hypocrites.
Samsung is the new premium kid on the block I guess.
I had to take my cover off an look at my Note 5. It looks like they bought a bunch of Note 5's and changed the insides.
What would be funny is if this was actually Samsung selling the Note 5 under a fake OEM name for more sales...lol

posted on Nov 18, 2015, 5:08 PM 2

Posts: 168; Member since: Nov 17, 2015

posted on Nov 18, 2015, 9:53 PM 0

Posts: 712; Member since: Jun 12, 2014

Only techbloggers say its elegant and well built. Bad reviews mean no invites to next years Apple events.
No invites means no reviews. No reviews mean no traffic to their techblogs.
It's a cruel world.
The iphone6 is an ugly phone.

posted on Nov 18, 2015, 3:08 AM 22

Posts: 68; Member since: Feb 16, 2015

posted on Nov 18, 2015, 3:47 AM 16

Posts: 14967; Member since: Sep 25, 2013

Hahahaha. You have to be stupid to ever pay $99 for a pencil.
The WACOM options are better, offering as much as 2049 levels of pressure and they dont cost $99.
Thank god not all consumers are stupid. Of course I think paying 6 figures for a car is stupid too.
Oh and before you bash me about the cars? Exotics have no benefits whatsoever. When they break they cost more to fix. Being faster has no benefits in a country that has speed limits. Its just bragging rights...lol

posted on Nov 18, 2015, 12:39 PM 0

Posts: 315; Member since: Feb 13, 2015

posted on Nov 18, 2015, 6:06 AM 0

Posts: 1239; Member since: Aug 05, 2014

Chinese are the ones who really popularized the Android to the masses. by offering low priced good phones.
Android is popular just because of chinese. or else iOS, Windows Mobile, Blackberry or Symbian would be leading the smartphone OS industry.

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